Scooter Braun on Justin Bieber: ‘I feared he would die’

Justin Bieber’s manager Scooter Braun feared the pop star would die if he continued to let him work.

The Canadian singer had a tumultuous time in 2013 and early 2014, having a number of run ins with the law as well as the break-up of his relationship with fellow musician Selena Gomez all witnessed by the media.

The 21-year-old is now back on the right track and riding high in the charts with his new album, Purpose, but for a long time, Scooter couldn’t see him returning to the stage ever again.

“I was not going to let him work," he told the New York Times of the period shortly after Justin released his album, Journals. "He wanted to tour, and I honestly at that time felt, if he toured, he could die. The outsiders don’t really know what was happening. It was far worse than people realise, and when he is ready, he will tell what he was going through.

Thankfully 2015 has been a much better year for Justin, with number one singles and Purpose selling more than one million copies, but while many people have credited Scooter and his team with getting Justin’s head back in the game, the manager insists it was the singer who realised he had to sort himself out and make a change.

“I know people have seen the marketing and the A&R and everything we put together, and they’re like, 'Wow, great job!' But I want to be really clear: I was trying to do that job for a year and a half, and I failed every single day," he confessed. "It wasn’t until something happened that it clicked for him. He made the conscious decision as a young man: 'I need to make a change in my own life.'"